The FINANCIAL — With an increased resource estimate and lower investment costs, the full field development of Johan Sverdrup will contribute to even greater value creation. At the same time, the ripple effects from the project will be larger than previously estimated. Low CO2 emissions make Johan Sverdrup one of the world’s most carbon-efficient fields.
“The Johan Sverdrup field is the largest field development on the Norwegian shelf since the 1980s. At plateau, the field will produce up to 660,000 barrels per day, with a break-even price of less than USD 20 per barrel and very low CO2 emissions of 0,67 kg per barrel. Johan Sverdrup is on track to deliver vast volumes of energy with high profitability and low emissions for many decades to come,” says Eldar Sætre, Equinor CEO.
Full field development of Johan Sverdrup is projected to contribute more than NOK 900 billion in income to the Norwegian State over the lifetime of the field. An updated analysis from Agenda Kaupang estimates that the development of Johan Sverdrup Phase 1 and Phase 2 can contribute more than 150,000 man-years in Norway in the period from 2015-2025. In the operations phase, Johan Sverdrup may generate employment of more than 3400 man-years every year, according to Equinor.
The Plan for development and operation (PDO) for Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 also includes measures to facilitate power from shore to the Utsira High by 2022, in accordance with the terms for PDO Phase 1. Emission savings from the Johan Sverdrup field are estimated at 460,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to annual emissions from 230,000 private cars.
Further improvement in the project
Production start-up for the Phase 2 development is planned for Q4 2022.
Digitalisation and technology increase the resource estimate for Johan Sverdrup
In connection with the development of Phase 2, Equinor and the Johan Sverdrup partnership have established a full field digitalisation and technology plan to further reinforce safety and efficiency in operations, increase value and reduce carbon emissions from the field.
A number of improved recovery technologies are included in the plan:
Water alternating gas injection (WAG)
PRM (permanent reservoir monitoring) for the full field
Stepwise implementation of fibre optics in wells
Step-by-step development of digital twinning
Technologies for automatic drilling control on the drilling platform
High-speed telemetry drill pipe
Improvements in cement quality
Virtual rate monitoring on subsea wells
“Johan Sverdrup will be best in class on digitalisation and new technology. Digitalisation will reinforce the effect of several improved recovery technologies. Together, this has allowed us to increase the resource estimate for Johan Sverdrup, while simultaneously raising the ambitions for the field’s recovery rate to over 70 per cent. This will make Johan Sverdrup a world leader also in terms of the improved recovery,” says Øvrum.
In the Phase 2 PDO, the resource estimate for the entire Johan Sverdrup field is raised from 2.1-3.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent to 2.2-3.2 billion barrels, with an expected estimate of 2.7 billion barrels.
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